Plain Dealer file photoChildren on East 102nd Street in Cleveland were taking a break from 90 degree heat in 2005 -- a scene repeated in many urban areas during heat waves. Two environmental groups warned today that global warming is likely to affect urban areas -- including minority groups, the elderly and the poor -- the most severely.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Weird summer and winter weather may come and go - especially in Northeast Ohio - but the coming heat-related effects of a warming climate should be considered serious and dangerous.

"And under any global warming scenario, it is urban areas that will feel the heat the most," said Tracy Sabetta of the NWF office in Ohio. "Three Ohio cities -- Cleveland, Toledo and Cincinnati -- are on our list as being the most severely affected."

Cleveland's relatively high level of vulnerable populations -- elderly and low-income, especially -- and the low rates of air conditioning among those groups were among the reasons cited this morning for the city's place in the top 30 list.

The report did not rank the cities in order, but placed them in three categories or tiers based on several factors. All three Ohio cities were in the least affected tier, but still considered at risk

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Peggy Turbett/The Plain DealerStuart Greenberg, executive director of Environmental Health Watch in Cleveland, speaks at a rooftop conference at the group's Lorain Avenue offices on Wednesday morning. Greenberg said that better home weatherization in cities is among the most efficient ways to cut down on the release of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas cited by climate scientists as the culprit for accelerating climate change.

"Many American cities are vulnerable to increased heat waves that will result from global climate change," Sabetta said. "People in poor health and the elderly often suffer the most, but everyone will feel the heat unless measures are taken to adequately prepare cities."

Other factors considered include the average number of oppressively hot days each year, percentage of the city population living in poverty and the quantity of ground-level ozone pollution.

According to the report, 49 percent of the households in Cleveland are currently without central air conditioning and 30 percent of the population is living below the federal poverty level of $16,530 for a family of three. That is more than double the national average, the groups said.

Urban areas such as Cleveland will feel the heat more acutely because asphalt, concrete, and other structures absorb and reradiate heat, causing temperature to be as much as 10 degrees higher than nearby rural areas.

The climate projections by the two groups, echoing those made by the International Panel on Climate Change and dozens of other climate scientists over the last several years, come on the heels of one of the coolest July months on record throughout the Midwest and East.

But speakers this morning were quick to point out the crucial difference between weather - what we experience on a day-to-day or even seasonal sense - and climate.

"This has been a wonderful summer here in Northeast OHio, making it easier to be lulled into a false sense of security that global warming is nothing to worry about," said Eric Schreiber, a Cleveland doctor who is active in The Climate Project -- self-identified as a "non-profit organization with over 2,500 volunteers trained by Al Gore to educate the public about climate change." "Climate changes occur over decades all over the world -- not in weeks in a single location -- and the trend is clear.

"The world average temperature has been rising sharply over the past 50 years."

The report offers a sobering view of the future - assuming that global temperatures continue to increase.

Worse, air pollution in urban areas will increase, bringing a greater risk of heart attacks, strokes and asthma attacks. Children, the elderly, the poor and people of color are especially vulnerable, the report said.

"The reality is that a higher number of minorities -- of people of color -- live in urban areas and live at or below poverty," Sabetta said. "That means that they will be among the most affected by extreme heat -- along with the elderly and the very young."

The report also asserts that natural habitats and agriculture are also vulnerable to heat waves

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